Frisco invests $70K to develop retail strategy

With retail making up almost 66 percent of its commercial development, the city of Frisco is taking a targeted approach as it considers future retail space.

The Frisco Economic Development Corp. spent $70,000 to partner with Buxton Co., a Fort Worth-based customer analytics provider. The company will provide the city with a study that will give Frisco insight into the types of retailers best suited for the city, based on demographics, demand, economics and the market. It also will get access to its database of 250 sources for one year.

“We have not done a retail study to this extent in many years,” said Jim Gandy, chief executive of FEDC. “We thought it was very timely to take opportunity… to better understand what we have here and what opportunities may be out there for further development in retail.

Gandy said the FEDC is gaining traction on the next real estate cycle, which lends itself to new opportunities regarding upcoming mixed-use developments such as Frisco North, a 330-acre development off the Dallas North Tollway.

Although Frisco already is known for its retail development, which occupies 9 million square feet of space in the city, Gandy said there still is room for more.

“I don’t think we’re saturated from a dev perspective,” he said. “In the near future, there are a number of developable parcels off Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway that are going to be prime development opportunities.”

Lisa Hill, Buxton vice president of sales, said Frisco’s retail presence makes it even more important for the city to create a strategy for its future

“In a community that already has a lot of retail, it’s about being proactive and strategic about the space they have left,” Hill said. “You’re really looking to maximize retail space.”

Hill said based on what the company has gathered from Frisco, the city could be looking to attract retailers that have yet to enter the Texas market.

Gandy said he plans to take full advantage of the service and database, disbursing the information to current and future developers and retailers, this year and then evaluate whether it would need to renew the contract.